In this lesson, students will learn about how ecosystems recover after a disturbance. Today we will be discussing natural disasters, which will lead us into future discussions about human impacts on ecosystems. Students will watch a short video, and complete a computer lab simulation of succession. Students will answer the questions in their worksheets and take the short quiz at the end.
Objectives
Students will be able to…
Define and identify primary and secondary succession in an ecosystem
Define climax community
Define and identify a pioneer species
Predict how different environmental factors affect succession
Preparation notes
Make sure you have reserved the computer lab in advance to avoid conflicts in schedule
Was anybody here impacted by hurricane Sandy earlier this year?
What kinds of damage did you see? Did you loose power? Was there flooding?
Do you think it had any impact on local ecosystems?
Do you think local ecosystems will have a hard time recovering from the hurricane?
How much time do you think it will take?
What if the damage had been worse? Look at this picture that was taken in New Jersey during hurricane Sandy. This is a shark in somebody’s front yard. New York and New Jersey had extensive flooding and all kinds of other damage from the hurricane.
Do you think ecosystems there were more impacted?
Do you think it will take longer for ecosystems to recover?
Hurricanes are not the only natural disasters to effect ecosystems.
Who can name some other natural disasters that could have serious impacts on ecosystems?
I will list them on the board as we go along.
Today we are going to talk about how ecosystems begin to rebuild after disturbances such as these.
Do you think that ecosystems are able to recover to their original state of equilibrium after a disturbance?
In what situations do you think they cannot?
Activity
Students will watch a short video about succession, which will help them answer questions in their graphic organizer. Then they will begin the computer simulation module. They will answer the questions in the ecology succession internet activity worksheet and take the quiz at the end of the module.
Close
Will the damage from hurricane sandy lead to primary succession or secondary succession? Why?
Do you think most ecosystems disturbed by Sandy will make a complete recovery?
Which do you think has a more devastating effect on ecosystems: Natural impacts like we discussed today, or human impacts?
Tomorrow we will begin talking about the various human impacts on ecosystems.
Assessment
Questions from class, succession worksheet and quiz
Overview
In this lesson, students will learn about how ecosystems recover after a disturbance. Today we will be discussing natural disasters, which will lead us into future discussions about human impacts on ecosystems. Students will watch a short video, and complete a computer lab simulation of succession. Students will answer the questions in their worksheets and take the short quiz at the end.
Objectives
Students will be able to…
Preparation notes
Make sure you have reserved the computer lab in advance to avoid conflicts in schedule
Materials
Instruction
Opening
What if the damage had been worse? Look at this picture that was taken in New Jersey during hurricane Sandy. This is a shark in somebody’s front yard. New York and New Jersey had extensive flooding and all kinds of other damage from the hurricane.
Hurricanes are not the only natural disasters to effect ecosystems.
I will list them on the board as we go along.
Today we are going to talk about how ecosystems begin to rebuild after disturbances such as these.
Activity
Students will watch a short video about succession, which will help them answer questions in their graphic organizer. Then they will begin the computer simulation module. They will answer the questions in the ecology succession internet activity worksheet and take the quiz at the end of the module.
Close
Assessment
Questions from class, succession worksheet and quiz
Back to unit overview